Pensacola, Fl.: In a loss that was filled with positives for the Thunderbolts in their final road game of the regular season, Matthew Hobbs led the way with two goals in a 4-3 loss in Pensacola on Saturday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, April 5th against the Birmingham Bulls, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
Pensacola gained their first lead of the night at 3:44 on a goal from Garrett Milan. Responding for Evansville was Hobbs on his first goal of the game and his 10th of the season, at 11:09 from Jacob Kamps, the assist also being Kamps’ first professional point. Evansville outshot Pensacola 22-15 in the second period, however it was the Ice Flyers who scored twice on goals from Mitch Atkins at 8:20 and Houston Wilson at 13:32, giving them a 3-1 lead through two periods. Late in the second period, Hobbs took on Malik Johnson in the game’s first fight, in which Hobbs battled Johnson to a draw despite being at a size disadvantage.
The third period began with an opening face-off fight between Bronson Adams and Pensacola’s Sean Gulka, another even scrap despite Gulka also holding a notable size advantage. Evansville grabbed momentum out of the scrap and scored seconds later at 0:13 as Lincoln Hatten scored from Kamps to make it a 3-2 game. Although not officially listed with an assist, Hobbs should end up with an assist on the goal, which would earn Hobbs the first Thunderbolts’ Gordie Howe Hat Trick (Goal, Assist, and Fight) since 2020, and only the 4th in franchise history. At 7:27 Pensacola regained the two-goal lead as Taylor Egan made it a 4-2 game, before Evansville responded again at 10:54 as Hobbs scored his second goal of the game on a Hatten shot redirection. Evansville pressed with a late 6-on-4 advantage with a power play and Cole Ceci pulled, but just could not find a way to score as the Ice Flyers survived the onslaught, winning 4-3.
Hobbs finished with two goals and is likely to be credited with an assist, Hatten finished with a goal and assist, and Kamps tallied two assists. In goal, Ceci finished with 29 saves on 33 shots. The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers do not meet again this regular season, with Evansville winning the season series 2-1.
